The librettist of Venice : the remarkable life of Lorenzo Da Ponte, Mozart's poet, Casanova's friend, and Italian opera's impresario in America /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:	Bolt, Rodney.
Edition:	1st U.S. ed.
Imprint:	New York, NY : Bloomsbury Pub. : Distributed to the trade by Holtzbrinck, 2006.
Description:	xvii, 428 p., [8] p. of plates : ill. (some col.) ; 25 cm.
Language:	English
Subject:	Da Ponte, Lorenzo, -- 1749-1838. Casanova, Giacomo, -- 1725-1798 -- Friends and associates. Casanova, Giacomo, -- 1725-1798. Da Ponte, Lorenzo, -- 1749-1838. Librettists -- Biography. Impresarios -- Biography. Friendship. Impresarios. Librettists. Biography.
Format:	E-Resource Print Book
URL for this record:	http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/10038308

Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:	1596911182 9781596911185
Notes:	Includes bibliographical references (p. [405]-411) and index.
Summary:	"Born into an Italian Jewish family in 1749, Lorenzo Da Ponte would go on to become a Catholic, priest, a poet, a passionate lover of many women, a scandalous Enlightenment thinker banned from teaching in Venice, the librettist for three of Mozart's most sublime and controversial operas, a collaborator with Salieri, a friend of Casanova, and a favorite of Emperor Joseph II. He lived through the era of the Revolutionary War, the French Revolution, and the conquests and defeat of Napoleon though he himself was no revolutionary, delighting in the company of the upper classes right up to the point where their intrigues turned against him. After reaching the heights of artistic success and the depths of financial ruin in some of Europe's greatest cities, he emigrated in 1805 to America, where he survived stints as a grocer and bookstore proprietor to help establish New York City's first opera house and to become, at age seventy six, the first professor of Italian at Columbia University. Brilliantly written and meticulously researched, The Librettist of Venice is a vivid account of Da Ponte's passionate, picaresque life. Rodney Bolt takes readers from Old World courts and the back streets of Venice, Vienna, and London to a New World full of promise, on the trail of a man who seemed to rise phoenixlike from each new defeat. Two hundred and fifty years after Mozart's birth, the life and legacy of his librettist Da Ponte remain as astonishing as ever"--Jacket.
Other form:	Online version: Bolt, Rodney. Librettist of Venice. 1st U.S. ed. New York, NY : Bloomsbury Pub. : Distributed to the trade by Holtzbrinck, 2006

Review by Choice Review

One can find no Shakespeare or Rembrandt or Beethoven of libretti. No opera librettist is a household name, unless he or she happened also to be an opera composer, for example, Richard Wagner. Of the noncomposers, Da Ponte came the closest to celebrity status by contributing materially to the artistic success of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Cosi fan tutte. Bolt examines the biographical and political aspects of the Mozart-Da Ponte partnership; he leaves technical and artistic details to others. Da Ponte's stint as the Viennese court poet was but one of his incarnations. Bolt is particularly effective in the final section of the book, in which he describes Da Ponte's years in New York and provides some fascinating cultural history. Overall this is an arresting and accessible biography. It is more elaborate than Sheila Hodges's Lorenzo Da Ponte: The Life and Times of Mozart's Librettist (CH, Oct'86), and certainly more accurate than Da Ponte's own memoirs (Memoirs of Lorenzo Da Ponte, Eng tr., 1929, since reprinted). ^BSumming Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers. B. J. Murray Brevard College

Review by Booklist Review

Lorenzo Da Ponte (1749-1838), ne Emanuele Conegliano, was baptized shortly after his bar mitzvah and given the bishop's name. He conceived a passion for words, particularly poetry, ever since finding a cache of books in an attic. Sent to seminary, he was eventually ordained an abbe. As he matured, he embraced Enlightenment principles and got into trouble. Expelled from Venice, he moved to Vienna and was appointed court poet. Salieri and other composers--most famously Mozart--teamed with him to create successful operas. Next stop, London, where he married a well-off English girl and eventually followed her family to America. En route, he started or managed several opera companies but depended on selling books and printing librettos to survive. Bolt skillfully relates broader cultural history to Da Ponte's activities to provide quite a glimpse into turbulent times on both sides of the Atlantic. Da Ponte affected and was affected by many events, and those help make his the fast-paced story of a poet whose overwhelming optimism always prevailed over his many setbacks. --Alan Hirsch Copyright 2006 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Englishman Bolt, who has written on Christopher Marlowe (History Play), relishes the telling of the poor motherless Jewish boy from Venice's ghetto, born Emanuele Conegliano, whose father converted the family to Christianity in 1763 in an attempt to improve his fortunes. Renamed Lorenzo Da Ponte (1749-1838), after the bishop who converted him, the boy was schooled at a seminary and became a scholarly poet whose amatory entanglements in Venice eventually got him deported. Using his legendary wit and charm, Da Ponte insinuated himself into the graces of Hapsburg Emperor Joseph II, who established an Italian opera company in Vienna, attracting such young composers as Salieri and Mozart. Although he had never written a libretto, Da Ponte was appointed theater poet, which sparked a genius collaboration with Mozart on operas such as Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni and Cosi Fan Tutte. With the emperor's death in 1790, Da Ponte again fled town with his young English bride, Nancy Grahl; he eventually sailed to America, to become a New York grocer, businessman and professor of Italian at Columbia College. Reading Bolt's lively narrative of Da Ponte's life from the ghetto of Venice to the sparkling opera houses of Europe is pure pleasure. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Review by Library Journal Review

Travel writer Bolt (History Play: The Lives and Afterlife of Christopher Marlowe) here turns his attention to Lorenzo Da Ponte (1749-1838), best known as the librettist for Mozart's three most familiar Italian-text operas (The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Cos? fan Tutte). He chronicles Da Ponte's fascinating life, from his early years as a priest in Italy, to his womanizing and playing confidante to nobility in the capitals of Europe, to his experiences as a grocer, Italian professor, and opera promoter in America. Throughout, vivid descriptions of locales and breathless tales of intrigues hold the reader's attention. Bolt's scholarship is well documented but appears at odds with his highly charged style, so the author's intended audience is unclear. Furthermore, the organization of endnotes requires scanning a page for a specific word or phrase rather than for a corresponding number. Despite these cautions, Bolt's title is recommended for all libraries as a more detailed complement to Sheila Hodges's Lorenzo Da Ponte: The Life and Times of Mozart's Librettist, which it parallels extensively. (Sixteen-page color insert not seen.)-Barry Zaslow, Miami Univ. Libs., Oxford, OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Review by School Library Journal Review

Travel writer Bolt (History Play: The Lives and Afterlife of Christopher Marlowe) here turns his attention to Lorenzo Da Ponte (1749-1838), best known as the librettist for Mozart's three most familiar Italian-text operas (The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Così fan Tutte). He chronicles Da Ponte's fascinating life, from his early years as a priest in Italy, to his womanizing and playing confidante to nobility in the capitals of Europe, to his experiences as a grocer, Italian professor, and opera promoter in America. Throughout, vivid descriptions of locales and breathless tales of intrigues hold the reader's attention. Bolt's scholarship is well documented but appears at odds with his highly charged style, so the author's intended audience is unclear. Furthermore, the organization of endnotes requires scanning a page for a specific word or phrase rather than for a corresponding number. Despite these cautions, Bolt's title is recommended for all libraries as a more detailed complement to Sheila Hodges's Lorenzo Da Ponte: The Life and Times of Mozart's Librettist, which it parallels extensively. (Sixteen-page color insert not seen.)--Barry Zaslow, Miami Univ. Libs., Oxford, OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

Review by Kirkus Book Review

Lively biography of the Italian librettist of Mozart's three most famous operas emphasizes his restless desire for distinction. Lorenzo Da Ponte (1749-1838) insinuated himself into the elite cultural life of Venice, Vienna, London and New York through the sheer force of his energy, talent and boldness, avers Bolt (History Play, 2005). Born to Jewish parents in the State of Venice, Da Ponte converted to Christianity and seized the new opportunity for education and patronage by becoming a priest, a gifted teacher of seminarians and a poet capable of remarkable improvisations to the accompaniment of a violin or harpsichord. An affair with a married woman forced him into exile in music-mad Vienna; there, under the protection of Emperor Joseph II, he became poet to the court theatre and the newly established Italian opera company. He collaborated with Salieri, Mart"n y Soler and most memorably with Mozart; Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro and Cosi fan tutte are still staples of today's repertory. Bolt is at his best examining this high point of Da Ponte's life, taking us behind the scenes to dissect not only the composition of the operas but also the politicking, backbiting and pettiness of all those involved in this collaborative art. The withdrawal of royal patronage, a new emperor and some political intrigue led to his departure for London, where the vogue for all things Italian meant money to support his new wife and his many siblings still in Venice. As the impresario of the King's Theatre, he rewrote operas to suit the unsophisticated English audience's taste. Bad business deals reduced him to bookselling and finally to fleeing for New York to escape his debts. In the New World for his last 32 years, Da Ponte pieced together a life as a grocer, bookseller and teacher (Columbia's first professor of Italian), serving as Italy's informal cultural ambassador. A thorough, well-rendered account of Da Ponte's unique talents. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.